Social Media as Evidence

Treat social media as all other electronically stored information and assume it is discoverable, stressed Morgan Daniels (Daniels Law, LLC) at the August 16th Social Media as Evidence CLE. The 3rd in NOBA’s new Free on Fridays series, which is geared towards technology, the response was incredible with a packed room and an agreement that this could be a yearly program. Daniels went through the types and uses of social media before delving into how it is used as evidence. She explained how Rule 34 of the Federal Rules of Court applies to it, as well as how to obtain this evidence and court cases which are setting precedents. Facebook’s legal policies offer unique insight into how social media companies are preserving user activity and providing it for use in legal matters. Cases where social media has not been allowed as evidence have often failed to first establish it as relevant and have it authenticated. Attend the final two CLEs in the 2013 Free on Fridays series by contacting NOBA at 525-7453 or e-mailing Rebekah Burg at rburg@neworleansbar.org.